Jan. 19
SAUDI ARABIA----execution
3rd Pakistani this year beheaded in Saudi
Saudi Arabia on Monday beheaded a convicted Pakistani heroin smuggler, the 3rd
person from his country executed for the crime this year.
Yassir Arafat Munir Ahmed was executed in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, the
interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press
Agency.
"Investigations led to his confession and after a trial he was sentenced to
death," the ministry said.
Ahmed is the 11th person, and the third Pakistani, to be executed in the
kingdom this year.
The interior ministry has said it is battling narcotics because of the "great
harm" they do to society.
In September, an independent expert working on behalf of the United Nations
expressed concern about the judicial process and called for an immediate
moratorium on the use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia.
The kingdom had the 3rd-highest number of recorded executions in 2013, behind
Iran and Iraq, Amnesty International said in a report.
The Gulf has become an increasingly important market for illicit drugs in
recent years, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says.
On Sunday, the interior ministry said Saudi and United Arab Emirates security
agents had disrupted a heroin trafficking network.
2 truck drivers from Pakistan were arrested.
Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable
by death under Saudi law.
(source: Agence France-Presse)
********************
Man Who Filmed Execution Is Arrested, Saudi Outlets Say
In a recent video from Saudi Arabia, 3 uniformed security officers and a
professional swordsman in a white gown struggled to placate a woman cloaked in
black and sitting in the street. A Saudi court had convicted her of murder, but
she was proclaiming her innocence.
Then the officers stepped back, the swordsman took aim and the woman shrieked
and fell silent as he struck her neck with his blade, 3 times in total. Medics
wearing white gloves tended to the body, and the swordsman wiped his blade with
a cloth.
The video was distributed by human rights activists and posted online after the
execution in the city of Mecca on Jan. 12, shedding light on the way Saudi
Arabia applies the death penalty.
On Sunday, Saudi news outlets reported that the authorities had arrested the
man who had shot the video and planned to prosecute him. Although the reports
did not specify what charges he faced, an Interior Ministry spokesman said such
matters fell under the country's law against cybercrimes.
Saudi Arabia, a hereditary monarchy governed by a strict interpretation of
Shariah, the legal code of Islam based on the Quran, is an economic and
military ally of the United States. But some of its practices have come under
greater scrutiny with the rise of the Islamic State extremist group in Iraq and
Syria, which also claims to rule according to Shariah law and has shocked the
world with videos of its fighters beheading captives.
The kingdom recently delayed the second round of the public caning of a writer
sentenced to 1,000 blows for running a liberal website after his sentence was
criticized by the State Department and the United Nations. That followed an
uproar caused by a video of the first round of the punishment that was posted
online.
Many Saudis object to their country's being compared to the Islamic State,
saying that Saudi Arabia executes only those convicted of grave crimes, while
the fighters of the Islamic State indiscriminately kill those who do not share
their Sunni Muslim faith.
International human rights organizations have criticized the Saudi justice
system, and 2 United Nations human rights experts called for a moratorium on
beheadings in Saudi Arabia last year, labeling them "cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment."
Although Saudi Arabia criminalizes any words or acts that insult the Prophet
Muhammad, it condemned the deadly attack this month on the newspaper Charlie
Hebdo in France and has joined the American-led air campaign against the
Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
Still, some Saudis worry about how domestic practices affect their image
abroad.
"You reach a stage where you can't defend the country," said Khaled Almaeena, a
social and media analyst who lives in Jidda. "I can't go on a platform in
Europe and say that everything is hunky dory when someone is being lashed every
Friday."
Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and commentator, said that while some
Saudis saw the damage such practices caused abroad, the government faced little
opposition domestically, partly because of the belief that Islamic punishments
should be carried out in public.
"It is the Saudi Foreign Ministry that will face the heat, but locally we don't
have a problem with that," he said of public executions.
Saudi Arabia, a country of 27 million, executed 87 people last year for crimes
like rape, murder, armed robbery and drug trafficking, according to a count
compiled by Human Rights Watch. It has executed 11 people so far this year.
While most executions are believed to be beheadings, the government does not
usually disclose the method used.
The United States, by contrast, executed 35 people last year, according to the
Death Penalty Information Center, using methods that are not always flawless.
According to the state-run Saudi Press Agency, the executed woman was a citizen
of Myanmar who had been convicted of severely beating her husband's 7-year-old
daughter, also from Myanmar, and violating her with a broomstick "without mercy
or pity, which led to her death."
In the video, which appeared to have been filmed with a mobile phone, the women
repeatedly yelled, "I didn't kill! I didn't kill!" and "This is oppression!" in
Arabic while the men positioned her for the blows of the sword.
The Saudi newspaper Okaz reported on Sunday that the police in Mecca had
arrested a security officer who had filmed the beheading and that he would face
both military and civilian justice.
Another Saudi newspaper, Al-Riyadh, cited Lt. Col. Atta al-Quraishi, a
spokesman for the Mecca police, as saying that the man would be turned over to
the "relevant authorities."
The Interior Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Mansour Turki, said in a text
message that he had no information about the reported arrest but that such
cases were handled according to the country???s cybercrime law.
(source: New York Times)
*************************
'Saudi human rights record worst in region: 1 beheading every 4 days'
As long as Saudi oil is seen as a valuable resource for US oil corporations,
the US will maintain relations with the feudal regime regardless of what that
means for the rights of Saudi people, Sara Flounders, of the International
Action Center, told RT.
RT: Time to time we hear about executions and human rights violations in Saudi
Arabia. How do you see the situation the country at the moment?
Sara Flounders: Saudi Arabia from the very beginning has had a very special
relationship with the US based on oil, based on huge military support for a
completely corrupt feudal regime. The punishment, the absence of any rights for
the people go hand and hand. It is not covered here and it should be known
because there is 1 beheading on average every 4 days in Saudi Arabia, it is so
common. Along with other horrendous forms of punishment, of course the
beheadings are absolutely outrageous, offensive around the world, [there's]
great outrage when it is carried out by ISIS, but when it's done in Saudi
Arabia it's not even publicized. And other punishments, to sentence someone to
1000 lashes, that is almost a death sentence. It is so horrendously torturous.
And these are common punishments in Saudi Arabia.
It is important to know that women have absolutely no rights in Saudi Arabia:
not to work, not to drive, not to have any funds of their own, not to travel,
not to step foot out of the house without the permission and accompaniment of a
male family member. The immigrants have no rights whatsoever in Saudi Arabia.
Although that's 1/3 of the population, doing everything from the highest level
technical jobs to the lowest level housekeeping, garbage, and so on.
At every level Saudi Arabia is dependent on these foreign work force, and this
woman is from Burma, I don???t know her exact circumstances, but certainly as a
woman and as a non-Saudi, as an immigrant she would be absent any kind of
appeal or rights. And other way there are no rights, there is no appeal within
Saudi Arabia even for the Saudis. There is a great deal of poverty although
there is extreme wealth. There is an enormous amount, the highest in Arab
world, of illiteracy in Saudi Arabia and this is what unending US military
support has meant to the population of Saudi Arabia.
RT: We know about Saudi's close ties with the US. Why does the US support such
a cruel regime and at the same time in the past influenced overthrows of many
other less brutal regimes in the Mideast? Why don't we hear at least of US
disapproval of the executions, etc?
SF: The whole regime is a feudal regime. Back to US support, the largest number
of people facing execution in the world right is here in the US. The use of
lethal injection and electrocution has also been found to be excruciatingly
painful. The last couple of lethal injection executions in the US turned out to
be completely botched and a great torture, great torment to those facing
execution.
So there is no good way to kill people, but the Saudi form because of the
outrage that it raised when it was carried out when the US wanted to whip up
its right to bomb, strafe, and use cluster bombs, white phosphorus and
horrendous forms which are also torturous and deadly against ISIS. Then they
made much of the decapitation, the execution of 2 journalists. They made no
mention of how routine this is in Saudi Arabia, where they plan to train what
they say are their new forces to be used in Syria. That is very interesting
that Saudi Arabia would be heading up a UN sponsored counter terrorism
conference, where Saudi Arabia would be chosen for the training of forces to go
into Syria. Yet, their own record is the worst in the region.
RT: How do you see this recent horrible "blogger" case? What was the US
reaction?
SF: First of all, the blogger who was charged, committed no crime, this is a
thought crime, a violation of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom
to put forth ideas. And for that he is facing 1000 lashes, carried out 50 at a
time because that is all that a human being could bear and live. So this means
this excruciating torture will take place over many, many months again and
again. It is absolutely inhuman, a degrading form of punishment and intended to
be that.
It is so well and good for US senators to call for the end of flogging, but
really they should call for an end to the support of this corrupt Royal family
who are named the House of Saud, they have named the very country after
themselves, expropriated its entire wealth, is in the hands of this one clan,
this one grouping. And the rest of the population has no rights whatsoever.
It is held in place in a straightjacket by US support, financial support,
technical support, and every way military support, especially because Saudi
Arabian oil is considered an extremely valuable resource and contracts favor US
oil corporations. They want to keep that relationship regardless of what that
means for human rights, for millions of people in Saudi Arabia.
RT: How should US senators act in your opinion?
SF: I think that the senators...are asking to put a good face on a totally
rotten situation. Really they should call for a break and end to all support
for this Saudi regime. It will collapse tomorrow; it has existed by totally
repressing the entire population and acting as a police force in the whole
region. Also constantly arming and fomenting the most reactionary jihadist
forces throughout the region.
RT: Is there any chance of changing the situation within Saudi Arabia?
SF: Because the oppression is so harsh, so extreme - immediate execution - ....
the very idea of trying to unionize or organize in any way whatsoever is
punishable by death. As we can see even writing something in anyway critical of
the regime - 1000 lashes is a penalty. In Saudi Arabia, the royal family keeps
their position of total power by mass terror, and they have brutally put down
in the past any kind and every kind of resistance. This is not in any way a
democratic regime and it's far harsher even than military dictatorships that
are known around the world. This is really a form of terror against the whole
population.
(source: RT news)
AFGHANISTAN:
Death penalty for Afghan killer of Finnish aid workers----The man convicted of
killing 2 Finnish aid workers in Afghanistan last summer has been sentenced to
death. The sentence was handed down to the main accused in a local Afghan court
Sunday.
The district court in Afghanistan ruled that the main accused, Ahmad Farhad,
pulled the trigger of the weapon that killed the Finnish aid workers last July.
2 other accomplices received 5- and 2.5-year prison sentences for their role in
the murders of the 2 women. News of the sentencing was first reported by the
tabloid daily Ilta Sanomat.
According to Yle, Finnish Foreign Ministry officials remained mum on the
sentencing before it was confirmed by authorities in Afghanistan. However the
daily Helsingin Sanomat reported that the Foreign Ministry confirmed that the
main accused faced execution.
The Ministry commented on a general level, saying that Finland did not support
the death penalty.
"Finland like all other EU countries opposes the death penalty," said head of
the ministry's human rights policy unit Nina Nordstrom.
"It's an irreversible and inhumane sentence," she added.
The Finnish aid workers were gunned down last summer in the Afghan city of
Herat by assailants who followed their taxi on motorbikes and opened fire
through the open window.
Both women were seasoned workers who had considerable experience in
Afghanistan, having begun working there at the end of the 1990s. They were
members of the Finnish Lutheran Mission and worked for the International
Assistance Mission charity in mental health and improving the status of women.
(source: YLE/Uutiset)
BANGLADESH:
Qaisar appeals against death penalty
Former Jatiya Party minister Syed Mohammad Qaisar today challenged the death
penalty awarded to him by a war crimes tribunal for his crimes against humanity
during the country's Liberation War in 1971.
His lawyer Joynul Abedin Tuhin submitted the 50-page appeal, along with
necessary documents, with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court around
1:00pm.
Qaisar was found guilty in 14 of the 16 charges brought against him, handed
death in 7 charges, jail until death on 4 charges and various terms in 3
others.
Today, in his appeal, Qaisar cited 56 grounds in support of his acquittal.
The Supreme Court will later fix a date for hearing the appeal.
*****************************
HC begins hearing BDR carnage case
A special High Court bench yesterday started hearing the death references and
the appeals in the BDR carnage case, paving the way for complete adjudication
of the biggest ever criminal case in the country's history in terms of the
number of accused and convicts.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam and Additional Attorney General Murad Reza read
out from the 1st information report of the case before the 3-member bench of
the court.
After concluding the day's proceedings, the bench comprising Justice Md Shawkat
Hossain, Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique and Justice Nazrul Islam Talukder fixed
today for resuming the hearing.
Earlier on Saturday, the newly appointed Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha
reconstituted the HC bench to include Justice Nazrul Islam Talukder in place of
Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam.
On January 4, the then chief justice Md Muzammel Hossain had formed the bench,
including Justice Musafa, for hearing and disposing of the death references and
the 257 appeals filed by the convicts.
A Dhaka court on November 5, 2013 awarded death penalty to 150 soldiers of the
erstwhile Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and two civilians, and sentenced 161 others
to life imprisonment for their roles and involvement in the carnage.
It also handed down rigorous imprisonment, ranging from 3 to 10 years, to 256
people, mostly BDR soldiers. The court acquitted the remaining 277 accused. A
total of 846 people, 823 of them BDR personnel, were on trial.
74 people, including 57 army officials, were slain in the BDR mutiny on
February 25-26 in 2009 at the Pilkhana headquarters in Dhaka. The paramilitary
force was later renamed Border Guard Bangladesh.
(source for both: The Daily Star)
BOTSWANA:
Appeals court to review Botswana's death penalty
Botswana's Court of Appeal president Ian Kirby said the highest court in the
land will review an application by the government appealing High Court judge
Tshepo Motswagole's decision that section 203 of the Penal Code was
unconstitutional, APA learnt here on Monday.The section prescribes death
penalty.
Kirby said since this was a heavy matter, his court would require a lot of time
to review the case and that would only be done during the 2nd session of the
sitting of the court in August.
In 2013, Motswagole ruled that Section 203 of the Penal Code was
unconstitutional while presiding over the case of one Rodney Masoko who was
facing murder charges after stabbing his girlfriend with a knife in 2006. He
was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Assistant director at the Department of Public Prosecutions, Susan Mangori
argued that the Court of Appeal should reiterate its position on capital
punishment and subsequently remit Masoko's case back to Motswagole to pass the
prescribed sentence.
Botswana retains capital punishment for murder and treason and has executed 47
convicted criminals since independence in 1966.
(source: Star Africa)
INDONESIA:
Ticking down to a possible date with executioners
Tick tick tick. Ticking down. Inexorably. To a designated time when I will be
blindfolded in a white shirt with a reflective tag over my heart. I will be
given three minutes to "calm down", and have a choice to lie, sit or stand. A
few metres away a firing squad will be ordered to "do it", to fire at our
hearts. If necessary, the commander will finish the job by firing a shot into
my brain from very close range. And all this is legally sanctioned, indeed
legally required. Tick tick ... The guns will fire. And after that ... .
Just after midnight Indonesian time on January 18, 6 people convicted of drug
offences were executed by firing squad in Indonesia. 5 of the 6 were foreign
nationals. The executions have a chilling resonance for the 2 ringleaders of
the Bali 9: Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan have been on death row for nearly
a decade and time could now be running out. On December 30, Sukumaran's plea
for executive clemency was rejected by new Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Chan is yet to receive news of his bid for clemency, but Widodo has signalled
that he is unlikely to grant clemency for drug crimes.
The Australian government is and will be pleading for the lives of the 2 men.
Indeed, Indonesia itself has pleaded with other countries for clemency for its
nationals on death row.
However, it probably wasn't helpful for Prime Minister Tony Abbott to state
that the matter will not "jeopardise" relations with Indonesia. In the wake of
Saturday's executions, Brazil and the Netherlands recalled their ambassadors
from Indonesia, as 2 of the 6 executed were, respectively, their citizens. It
is premature for Abbott to signal that Australia will not do the same.
Throughout their incarceration in Kerobokan prison in Bali, it appears clear
that Sukumaran and Chan have been rehabilitated. Sukumaran is, for example, a
talented painter who has taken lessons from, and formed a friendship with,
famed Australian painter Ben Quilty. He has helped set up rehabilitation
programmes for other prisoners, such as a computer room and art classes. Chan
also organises courses in prison and leads its English-language church
services. The governor of Kerobokan pleaded for clemency for Chan in an earlier
judicial proceeding. As Sukumaran has said, what good does it do to kill them
now?
Human rights law and the death penalty
Under international human rights law, the death penalty is permitted in the
narrowest of circumstances. Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights ("ICCPR") guarantees the right to life, but paragraph 2
outlines an exemption for the death penalty. This is unsurprising as the ICCPR
was adopted in 1966, a time when most countries, including Australia, still
used the death penalty. In practice, only about a quarter of the world's
countries retain the death penalty today.
Under article 6(2), the death penalty is permitted only for "the most serious
crimes". That phrase has been interpreted by authoritative bodies as being
limited only to intentional killing, that is murder. Drug trafficking, while
serious, is not a "most" serious crime. So Indonesia, which acceded to the
Covenant in 2006, breached the ICCPR with the executions of Saturday night, and
will do so again if it executes Chan and Sukumaran.
The duo has spent nearly ten years on death row. The "death row phenomenon"
refers to the consequences of an extended period of time on death row, where
stress inevitably builds up over one???s ever-approaching date with an
executioner. Some domestic and international courts have found that the "death
row phenomenon" constitutes cruel and inhuman treatment in breach of human
rights standards. The Privy Council has, for example, found that no one should
spend more than 5 years on death row: sentences must be commuted after that
time. The UN Human Rights Committee (the body which supervises and monitors the
ICCPR), however, does not condemn the death row phenomenon as it does not wish
to encourage States to execute people faster. In its view, "life on death row,
harsh as it may be, is preferable to death".
However, there does seem to be unseemly confusion in Indonesia over the
processes available for appealing a death penalty. It took over a week for
Widodo's rejection of Sukumaran's plea to be properly communicated. Sukumaran's
Indonesian lawyer has just announced plans to seek further judicial review of
the sentence. It is at present unclear whether such an avenue is available.
Such uncertainty is unnecessarily cruel to a person facing a State-sanctioned
order of termination.
Australia's involvement in the capture of the Bali 9
The Australian Federal Police ("AFP") tipped off the Indonesian authorities
about the Bali 9. It is arguable that this action has breached Australia's own
obligations under the ICCPR.
Australia has abolished the death penalty. As Article 6(2) applies only to
those States that have not abolished the death penalty, the death penalty
exception in article 6(2) has no application to Australia. Further, Australia
is a party to the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, which prohibits the
death penalty in all circumstances.
Australia therefore has an obligation not to execute people, nor to expose them
to a real risk of capital punishment in another country by, for example,
extraditing them without assurances against execution. Indeed, Australia has
recently stated that it will not extradite a convicted murderer to Malaysia
without Malaysian guarantees that the man will not be executed.
The same obligation may mean that Australia must not alert foreign authorities
to the commission of a capital crime, particularly if the alleged perpetrators
can easily be apprehended in Australia. The argument is probably strongest with
regard to Chan, who was on a plane alongside 4 "drug mules" intending to carry
heroin from Bali to Australia, when apprehended by Indonesian police. Those 5
people could easily have been arrested upon arrival in Australia. Such a
strategy would have ensured the non-exposure of the five, including Chan, to
capital punishment.
The clock
Of course, there are many other arguments one could raise about the situation.
For example, Wododo has justified the executions on the basis that Indonesia
faces a "drug emergency", implying that capital punishment somehow helps to
reduce that crisis. Yet the death penalty does not in fact seem to work as a
deterrent.
But I leave readers where I began. And that is the grisly reality that human
beings within the apparatus of government are setting dates with death for
designated individuals. Other human beings are compelled to carry out that
task. In the 21st century, I cannot fathom that that is conceivably within the
appropriate bounds of the role of the modern State.
And for 6 men and women last Saturday:
Tick tick tick ... . time out.
(source: The Conversation)
*************************
Kill off the death penalty
Execution by firing squad. The spinechilling risk was there all along, and Bali
9 drug syndicate ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran knew it.
All Australians have known for decades the draconian penalties dealt out for
drug crimes in some countries in our region. Who could forget the ghastly fate
of Australian duo Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers, hanged at dawn in Malaysia
in 1986?
Still, Sukumaran and Chan went ahead. With the help of their fellow Bali 9
plotters, the greedy duo intended to import 8kg of heroin from Indonesia to
Australia but were instead busted and sentenced to death for their part in the
2005 scheme.
There is simply no defending the criminality or stupidity of Chan, 31, and
Sukumaran, 33, and in many respects it is difficult to summon sympathy for
their plight.
The evil drugs they intended to introduce to our shores would have lined their
pockets with cash - and sowed untold misery through our cities and suburbs. The
illicit cargo may even have claimed lives of young Australian drug-takers.
Just as there is no doubting the guilt of the death row dolts, there is also no
doubting the Indonesian Government's intent to stamp out drug crime.
Its chosen method could not be more calculating. The sentenced are tied to a
post, a hood over their head and their heart marked with a cross. The execution
is carried out by a 12-member firing squad at a remote beach or forest.
This is abhorrent, and unacceptable.
The Abbott Government is right to do everything it can to appeal for clemency
for the 2 men. Clearly, the Australian Government cannot simply impose Western
values on Indonesia's leaders. It is indisputable that the Indonesians have a
right to impose their own laws in their own country, and to administer their
own justice system.
They are a democracy, and newly elected President Joko Widodo campaigned on a
platform of cracking down on drug crime.
Our Government has raised the cases of 2 Australians on death row in Indonesia
more than 50 times, Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop says. Still, there
remains hope that further discussions could yet save the drug runners from a
barbaric outcome.
The Government and our diplomats must stick at the task.
The executions of 6 drug traffickers in Indonesia on the weekend seemingly
signals Sukumaran and Chan are closer to the same fate. It is proper that the
Australian Government applies what pressure it can to have their death
sentences commuted.
Those who are demanding the men be shot should take a deep breath and consider
the sanctity of human life. We simply cannot support such barbarism.
We do not support the death penalty, whether in Australia or on foreign shores.
Australia dumped the death penalty in 1967, rejecting it as too extreme and
disrespectful to human life, an act that degrades society.
Efforts to save the condemned men should in no way be seen as condoning their
attempt to bring heroin to Australia.
Nor are we saying Sukumaran and Chan should be freed from jail or allowed to
return home to an Australian prison to serve their sentences. But if they have
to serve life sentences in an Indonesian cell, with poor conditions adding to
the deprivation of their liberty, that is punishment enough.
While respectful of Indonesian rule of law, we hope President Joko Widodo can
find a way to grant them clemency.
(source: Editorial, The Herald Sun)
**************************
Australia will keep diplomats in Indonesia for now: Julie Bishop
Australia has no plans to withdraw its diplomats from Indonesia but Foreign
Minister Julie Bishop would not speculate on what might happen "should the
Indonesian government carry through its threat to execute" 2 members of the
Bali Nine.
The Foreign Minister said there had been dozens of meetings between the 2
countries since the Bali 9 were sentenced and that it was "necessary" Australia
keep its diplomats in the country to lobby the Indonesian government.
Brazil and the Netherlands have recalled their ambassadors from Jakarta in
protest after 2 of their citizens were executed at the weekend for drug
offences, along with four others.
The deaths by firing squad have heightened concerns for Australians Myuran
Sukumaran and his fellow heroin smuggler, Andrew Chan, who are currently on
death row in Indonesia.
The executions could take place within months, as Indonesia cracks down on
illicit drug use.
Ms Bishop told Sky News on Monday that the Australia government would continue
to argue against the executions of Sukumaran and Chan.
When asked if Australia would also consider pulling out its diplomats, Ms
Bishop replied, "at this point, it's necessary for us to have our consular
people in Indonesia making representations".
She said she would not speculate about what would happen "should the Indonesian
government carry through its threat to execute Australians".
Ms Bishop said that there had been at least 50 meetings between Australia and
Indonesia about the issue, since the Bali 9 were sentenced in 2006.
"On each occasion the Indonesian government of the day has rejected our
representations."
Ms Bishop wrote to her Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi as recently as
December, but said her plea had been rejected.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has also written to Indonesian President Joko
Widodo.
Ms Bishop said Australia would continue to point out to Indonesia that
Australia opposed the death penalty and that both men had made "significant
efforts" to rehabilitate themselves while in jail in Indonesia.
She also said that she did not believe that executing people was the answer to
solving Indonesia's drug problem.
Ms Bishop has spoken to the families of Sukumaran and Chan, who are "hoping and
praying that there will be clemency".
The 2 men were among the ringleaders of a plot to transport more than 8
kilograms of heroin from Bali to Sydney. Along with the other members of the
Bali 9, they were arrested in April 2005 at Denpasar airport following a
tip-off to Indonesian authorities from the Australian Federal Police.
(source: Sydney Morning Herald)
********************************
Bali 9: AFP's role in case a 'gross error', should be cited when pleading for
Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran's lives, lawyer says
One of the lawyers involved in the Bali 9 drug case says Australian police
should never have cooperated with Indonesia given the likelihood of death
sentences being imposed.
Brisbane lawyer Robert Myers said the Abbott Government should cite the role
played by Australian Federal Police (AFP) in providing intelligence on the
trafficking conspiracy when it makes a bid to save the lives of Andrew Chan and
Myuran Sukumaran.
The pair could face the firing squad as early as this year, after the
Indonesian Government decided to resume executing drug traffickers and vowed to
deny clemency for drug offenders.
Mr Myers became involved in the case after receiving a phone call from his
friend Lee Rush, the father of now convicted drug trafficker Scott Rush who is
serving a life sentence, before his son left Australia.
"He called me one evening before the boys, well, particularly before Scott left
Australia, with a concern that he had received a call to say Scott had an
overseas ticket, he had a passport," Mr Myers said.
Indonesia's deadly display of power
The recent executions in Indonesia have been presented as a matter of national
pride, with local authorities standing up to the demands of meddling
foreigners, writes Jeff Sparrow.
"And so I said, 'Well look, if you've got a concern, I'll call a friend of mine
in the Federal Police'. I knew a police officer who was on secondment and that
really started the entire thing."
The AFP's liaison officer in Bali, Paul Hunniford, then wrote a three-page
letter to the Indonesian police.
"It really said words to the effect of whatever action you see fit to take is
quite alright with us, and it seemed to be an open-ended invitation to the
Indonesian authorities," Mr Myers said.
"If they wanted to take it beyond surveillance, if they wanted to arrest these
people, even wanted to charge them, even wanted to subject them to Indonesian
law, that the Australians weren't going to have any problems with that."
Australia in a 'terribly embarrassing situation'
Mr Myers said the AFP's involvement could help assist in saving the lives of
Chan and Sukumaran.
"I suspect it may be their only hope now because, as I understand it, the
Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister have appealed to Indonesia; it sounds
as if the appeals have fallen on deaf ears," he said.
"There was no doubt that by allowing the Indonesians to really have cart
blanche in relation to the Bali 9, that all of the Bali 9 were being exposed to
the death penalty."----Robert Myers, lawyer
"It just struck me as though if the Government, if the Prime Minister could say
on behalf of the Australian Government, [that] we find ourselves in a terribly
embarrassing situation because this should never have happened in the first
place."
He said had the AFP asked for cooperation from the Indonesian authorities about
the groups' movements and when they were returning to Australia, the matter
could have been dealt with on home soil.
"And if there's an appeal made on a personal basis you'd hope that the
president of Indonesia might say, 'Look, I can see you're in an embarrassing
situation where our countries are allies... we'd hate to see the Australian
Government terribly embarrassed by really a very bad error, a gross error
"There is no doubt that the Attorney-General would have to personally approve
the cooperation between foreign entities that could result in the death of
Australian citizens, and there was no doubt that by allowing the Indonesians to
really have cart blanche in relation to the Bali Nine, that all of the Bali 9
were being exposed to the death penalty."
Mr Myers said he did not know at what level the AFP's decision was made.
"[Mick] Keelty was obviously the officer in charge of the entire show at the
time.
"I don't even know if this decision was made by Keelty but one would have
thought the buck would have stopped with ... well, the buck stops with the
Attorney-General and my understanding is the Attorney-General knew nothing
about it."
(source: Radio Australia)
*******************************
Bishop says death penalty will not solve Indonesia's drug problem
The Government is being urged to make a last ditch effort to convince the
Indonesian government to spare the lives of Bali 9 ringleaders Myuran Sukumaran
and Andrew Chan.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says the Federal Government has not given up hope
for convicted Bali 9 smugglers Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan.
Speaking to the TODAY show this morning, Ms Bishop said the death penalty is
"abhorrent" and the government will plead for their lives until the very end.
"The Prime Minister has written again to the Indonesian president, I am in
contact with my counterpart, the Foreign Minister," she said.
"The Australian Government opposes the death penalty in all instances, this has
been a longstanding position of governments over the years and we oppose a
situation where any Australian nationals face the death penalty or are executed
by another state.
"We'll continue to make representations at the very highest level."
It comes as Sukumaran told friends he is wracked with fear and is certain he
will be executed by the end of the month. Ms Bishop said Indonesian officials
had rebuffed previous requests for clemency by the Australian government on the
basis it is Indonesian law and the death penalty is linked to a number of
drug-related offences.
--
Indonesia is tonight at the centre of a diplomatic storm after it executed 5
foreign nationals for drug offences, casting a grim shadow over 2 Australians
on death row.
"My personal view is that an execution of drug traffickers will not stop the
problem of drugs in and out of Indonesia, there's a much broader approach that
needs to be taken," she said.
TODAY show host Alicia Loxley pressed Ms Bishop on whether she thought
Indonesia would face a backlash from the Australian public if the men are
executed.
"I think people will be shocked ... they are seeking to send a very strong
message," she said.
"It is a very severe warning to anyone travelling in or out of Indonesia that
the death penalty can apply to drug trafficking."
The outlook for the 2 men is bleak after Indonesia executed 6 people for drug
charges over the weekend.
(source: 9news.com)
**************************
Anger After Indonesia Executed 6 People for Drug Trafficking
Brazil and the Netherlands have recalled their ambassadors to Indonesia after
the Southeast Asian country ignored their pleas for clemency and executed 6
people, including 5 foreigners, for drug trafficking.
The attorney general's office says 5 foreigners and 1 Indonesian were executed
by firing squad just after midnight Sunday morning in Central Java province.
"It is a form of assertiveness of Indonesia's government that we will never be
in compromise with the perpetrators, dealers and drug syndicates," said
Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo.
Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders called the executions "a cruel and inhuman
punishment that amounts to an unacceptable denial of human dignity and
integrity."
A statement from the Brazilian government said using the death penalty severely
affects relations between the 2 countries.
Citizens of Malawi, Nigeria and Vietnam were also shot to death, along with
those from Brazil and the Netherlands.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who took office in October, rejected clemency
requests in keeping with a hard-line stance toward drug offenders.
Human rights group Amnesty International labeled the death penalty "a human
rights violation."
Amnesty's research director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Rupert Abbott,
said in a recent statement that "the new administration took office on the back
of promises to improve respect for human rights," and the execution of six
people is "a regressive move."
Indonesia resumed capital punishment in 2013 after a 5-year gap. No executions
took place in 2014, but the Indonesian government has indicated there will be
more this year.
(source: Voice of America News)
**************************
Vietnam tried to save drug convict from Indonesia's firing squad: official
Vietnam's Foreign Ministry had asked Indonesia to grant clemency to a
Vietnamese drug convict, but could not prevent her execution on Sunday, its
spokesperson said.
Le Hai Binh said in a statement that "protection" had been provided for Tran
Thi Bich Hanh, who was eventually killed by a firing squad in Boyolali, Central
Java.
Since Hanh's arrest in June 2011, the Vietnamese embassy in Jakarta and other
Vietnamese agencies had discussed with the Indonesian government many times
about respecting her legal rights, Vietnam News Agency quoted Binh as saying.
"We had asked the Indonesia government to consider reducing the penalty on
humanitarian grounds," he said.
But Binh conceded that Vietnam too is tough on drug trade and trafficking.
"Vietnam is a country which always cooperates with others in fighting and
preventing drug crimes," he said.
Vietnam indeed has some of the world's toughest drug laws.
Those convicted of trafficking more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5
kilograms of methamphetamine are punishable by death.
Producing or selling 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal
narcotics is also a death penalty crime.
Indonesia sentenced Hanh, 37, to death in November 22, 2011 for trafficking
drugs in nine different cases, including the last time when she was carrying
1.1 kilograms of meth.
She was executed Sunday morning together with 5 other convicts, including an
Indonesian woman and 4 foreigners, whose governments' appeals were all
rejected.
The executions were the 1st for nearly 70 death-row drug convicts in Indonesia
and the 1st under President Joko Widodo, who sworn in last October.
Widodo government has pledged to give no pardons to the drug convicts, and that
they will execute at least 20 of them every year, despite criticism from
international governments and human rights groups.
In related news, Reuters reported Monday that Nigeria has summoned Indonesia's
ambassador over the execution of 2 of its citizens by firing squad for drug
trafficking, echoing protests from Brazil and the Netherlands which also each
had one of their nationals executed.
Indonesia initially said two Nigerians were among those executed, and the
Nigerian statement also spoke of 2, but Jakarta later suggested only 1 Nigerian
had been shot, Reuters said.
According to the newswire, Brazil and the Netherlands recalled their
ambassadors on Sunday to protest over the planned executions. Neither country
has the death penalty and both have spoken out against the practice.
Nigeria, which summoned Indonesia's envoy on Sunday, does have the death
penalty, although usually for more serious offences than drug trafficking,
Reuters said.
(source: Thanh Nien News)
******************************
Nigeria summons Indonesian ambassador over drug execution
Nigeria has summoned Indonesia's ambassador over the execution of 2 of its
citizens by firing squad for drug trafficking, echoing protests from Brazil and
the Netherlands which also each had one of their nationals executed.
The southeast Asian country executed 6 people very early on Monday, including 1
Indonesian and nationals from Nigeria, Malawi, Vietnam, the Netherlands and
Brazil, the Jakarta government said.
Indonesia initially said 2 Nigerians were among those executed, and the
Nigerian statement also spoke of 2, but Jakarta later suggested only 1 Nigerian
had been shot.
"The Federal Government has received with huge disappointment the tragic news
of the execution by firing squad of 2 Nigerians," foreign ministry spokesman
Ogbole Amedu Ode said in a statement on Monday, naming both men.
"The executions were carried out despite persistent pleas for clemency ... The
Federal Government seizes this opportunity to express its sympathy and
condolences to the families of the deceased."
Brazil and the Netherlands recalled their ambassadors on Sunday to protest over
the planned executions. Neither country has the death penalty and both have
spoken out against the practice.
Nigeria, which summoned Indonesia's envoy on Sunday, does have the death
penalty, although usually for more serious offences than drug trafficking.
According to Cornell Law School run website Death Penalty Worldwide, Nigeria
had 1,233 people on death row by September 2013. At least 141 death sentences
were carried out in Nigeria that year, it says.
Last month, a military court sentenced 54 Nigerian soldiers to death by firing
squad for mutiny.
In Nigeria's largely Muslim north, some states since the turn of the millennium
have practised Sharia or Islamic law, which in theory allows them to stone
people to death, although none have yet carried out this penalty.
Indonesia's president, who signed off on the 6 executions last month, has
pledged no clemency for drug offenders.
The southeast Asian country resumed executions in 2013 after a 5-year gap.
(source: Reuters)
**************************
Diplomatic storm for Jakarta on executions
Indonesia is feeling the diplomatic blowback from executing 6 prisoners, 5 of
them foreigners, but is sticking to its approach on dealing with drug
offenders.
Australia has not ruled out following Brazil and the Netherlands in recalling
its ambassador from Indonesia if Bali 9 members Andrew Chan and Myuran
Sukumaran are executed.
The death penalty is part of President Joko Widodo's solution to the drug
problem, which he says kills 40 Indonesians a day.
Brazil and the Netherlands have reacted to Sunday's executions with outrage,
recalling their ambassadors from Jakarta.
Indonesia's foreign ministry says it doesn't see this as a "diplomatic
incident".
"We don't see that this is a diplomatic incident, we see this as upholding the
rule of law in Indonesia," spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir told reporters on Monday.
"What we have undertaken are the laws, in line with our national law, and is
also in line with the principles of international law.
"Indonesia respects the national laws of every country and we also hope that
other countries respect our national laws."
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says she does not believe executions are the
solution to the drug problem.
The government has made more than 50 representations for the men, she says.
"This is not just a matter that Prime Minister (Tony) Abbott and I have been
involved in," she told Sky News on Monday."
"Across our diplomatic corps they have been making representations at every
level in the Indonesian government and that will continue."
Jakarta replied to one recent letter from Ms Bishop, rejecting her appeal and
reiterating Mr Joko's stance.
Mr Nasir says Indonesia wants good bilateral ties with all countries, including
Brazil, The Netherlands and Australia, as expressed by Mr Abbott.
Indonesia predicts 5.8 million citizens in the nation of 250 million will be
addicted to drugs this year.
"The highest percentage of those is in elementary school, at the age of 10 to
19," he said.
Meanwhile a former top Indonesian judge who had wanted to spare Chan and
Sukumaran from the death penalty has challenged Jakarta's inconsistency on
capital punishment.
Jimly Asshiddiqie, former chairman of Indonesia's constitutional court, went on
the record in 2008 saying he had wanted to uphold their 2007 appeal.
He'd hoped their executions could be delayed 10 years, when the pair might find
a "next generation" of constitutional court judges against the death penalty,
even for drug traffickers.
Now, Mr Asshiddiqie says Jakarta has avoided confronting the issue for so long,
its position is inconsistent and out-of-date.
"It's not right that when our workers abroad are facing the death penalty we
protest against it, but when foreigners are about to face death here we don't,"
he told AAP.
"This is inconsistent.
"Personally, I think we must open a space where we can discuss the death
penalty openly.
"Global humanitarian values have changed.
"Indonesia cannot avoid this."
Mr Joko has denied clemency to Sukumaran, and Chan's appeal is also expected to
be rejected in line with the president's policy.
(source: Australian Associated Press)
**************************
Kiwi Tony De Malmanche Facing Death Penalty in Indonesia to Claim He Was a
Victim of Trafficking
Kiwi Tony De Malmanche is facing the firing squad in Indonesia for allegedly
smuggling illegal drugs into the country, but his lawyers are reportedly coming
up with a novel defence. The 52-year-old Whanganui man's legal team will
convince the court that he was actually a victim of human trafficking, rather
than a perpetrator.
De Malmanche was arrested at the Denpasar International Airport in Bali on
December 1. Police said he was discovered carrying 1.7 kg of methamphetamine in
his bag. He claimed he was travelling to Hong Kong to meet his online
girlfriend, who is known as "Jesse."
His lawyer, barrister Craig Tuck, has formed a specialist team of human rights
and legal experts to prove to the court that de Malmanche was a victim, and
therefore should not face the death penalty in the country.
The defence will argue that their client was a blind mule for an organised drug
smuggling ring. He was also unaware that he was carrying the drugs when he was
about to meet his girlfriend. De Malmanche, who had a history of mental illness
when he was young, apparently began a 3-month relationship with Jesse, who
bought him a passport and plane ticket so he could visit her in Hong Kong. The
trip was his 1st overseas.
Jesse's "personal assistant," an African man named Larry, helped him obtain a
passport. Upon his arrival in Hong Kong, de Malmanche's suitcase fell apart.
Larry bought a bag for him and packed it in his luggage when they visited a
market in Guangzhou. Larry told him Jesse was having visa problems so she would
just meet him in Bali. That was when he was arrested by Indonesian police.
"Police disclosed that Tony was caught as part of an international sting
involving a highly organised and sophisticated multinational criminal drug
cartel," Tuck was quoted by the Herald on Sunday as saying.
De Malmanche's trial is expected to start in February.
Meanwhile, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said he cannot intervene in de
Malmanche's case. He told RadioLive that may raise concerns about Indonesia's
death penalty, but "In terms of actually intervening in the case, that's a very
different issue."
If Tuck's team is unsuccessful in defending de Malmanche, their client would
face death penalty by firing squad. Indonesia has just put to death 6 inmates
as part of President Joko Widodo's resolve to crack drug crimes in the country.
(source: International Business Times)
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